1897 WAFA season

Western Australian football season December 2017 December 2017 wafa 1897 4 WP 1 WP 1 Albert Thurgood (Frm) (27) 1896 1898 The 1897 WAFA season was the 13th season of senior Australian rules football in Perth, Western Australia. West Perth won the premiership, their first, after remaining undefeated throughout the season. The Rovers team finished last and failed to field a team for the final rounds of the season, forfeiting several matches to their opponents. 1897 was also the final season that Imperials competed, when at the end of the season it was discovered that “many of the bills were unpaid and that creditors were clamorous”.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32292968 THIRTY YEARS OF FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 5 July 1929 24 Clubs Colours Club Captain Leading goalkickerRedWhite Frm John Leckie Albert Thurgood (27)BlueWhite Imp Tom Keenan Kelly (15)BlackYellow Rov Robertson Borland (11)RedBlue WP Barney Grecian Dave De Coit (21) Home-and-away season In 1897, the WAFA competition consisted of four teams of 20 on-the-field players each with only two venues, the WACA Ground and Fremantle Oval being used to host matches. This season also saw the introduction of the rule stipulating that a mark could only be made at the distance of ten yards or more, leading to a more open game.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3112168 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 17 May 1897 3 When reporting match scores in 1897, the number of goals and behinds scored by each team is given; however, only the number of goals scored is considered when determining the result of a match. This was the final WAFA season before the introduction of the modern system of scoring, in which six points is awarded for a goal and one point is awarded for a behind. Round 1 Round 1 Saturday, 15 May 1897 Frm 1.1 A WP 5.10 Fremantle Oval 1,800 Saturday, 15 May 1897 Rov 2.6 A Imp 6.4 WACA *Key players Sicily and O’Dea switched from Fremantle to Imperials during the season break and a relatively weak Fremantle team failed to score in the first half The Inquirer and Commercial News report gives West Perth’s final score as 5.11 rather than 5.10http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66529979 FOOTBALL. The Inquirer & Commercial News Western Australia 21 May 1897 6 Round 2 Round 2 Saturday, 22 May 1897 Frm 3.13 A Rov 6.6 Fremantle Oval 2,000 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3112546 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 24 May 1897 3 *Owing to the W.A.C.A. ground being required for the first day of the W.A. Cycling Club sports meeting, no football match was arranged by the committee of the W.A.F.A. to take place upon that groundhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3112453 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 22 May 1897 3 Play started 40 minute late, leading to the Western Australian Football Association introducing a new rule to enforce more timely commencement of games Round 3 Round 3 Saturday, 29 May 1897 WP 3.9 D Rov 3.2 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3112869 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 31 May 1897 6 Saturday, 29 May 1897 Imp 6.7 H Frm 3.3 Fremantle Oval 2,000 *West Perth came from three goals to one down in the last quarter to draw a game where they had the majority of the scoring opportunities Fremantle lost their third straight game Round 4 Round 4 Saturday, 5 Jun 1897 WP 6.8 D Frm 6.7 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3113230 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 7 June 1897 6 Saturday, 5 Jun 1897 Imp 7.8 H Rov 4.8 Fremantle Oval 2,000 *Imperials won their third straight game to take an early lead on the ladder while West Perth drew their second successive game A successful shot from a West Perth player right on the final bell was disallowed as the umpire heard that time had been called just prior to the ball being kickedhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66518314 FOOTBALL. The Inquirer & Commercial News Western Australia 11 June 1897 4 The Inquirer and Commercial News gives the final West Perth score as 6.9 Round 5 Round 5 Saturday, 12 Jun 1897 Imp 3.6 D WP 3.8 Fremantle Oval 2,800 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3113623 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 14 June 1897 6 *The fixture that was unable to be played as part of Round 2 on 22 May was scheduled for this weekend West Perth drew their third successive game when Williams scored an equalising goal for them with only two seconds left to play Representative Game Representative Game Saturday, 19 Jun 1897 Perth Representative Team 7.15 H Fremantle Representative Team 4.5 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3177825 FOOTBALL: THE TEST MATCH. The West Australian Western Australia 21 June 1897 6 *A poor turnout led to the match starting with Perth represented by 18 and Fremantle by 15 players respectively Round 6 Round 6 Saturday, 26 Jun 1897 Frm 1.3 H Imp 0.4 Fremantle Oval http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3178242 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 28 June 1897 6 Saturday, 26 Jun 1897 Rov n/a WP n/a WACA *Fremantle won their first game of the season, Clarke scoring the only goal of the game with a kick off the ground in the second quarter The game between Rovers and West Perth was called off when the heavy showers of rain which fell on Saturday morning left the Association Ground in an unfit state for play. West Perth wanted to play and raised a formal complaint with the association about the decision not to play. Round 7 Round 7 Saturday, 3 Jul 1897 WP 8.15 H Imp 2.0 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3178706 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 5 July 1897 5 Saturday, 3 Jul 1897 Frm 10.13 H Rov 4.2 Fremantle Oval *West Perth comprehensively defeated Imperials to draw level with them at the top of the ladder Umpire Orr, who was appointed to the West Perth-Imperials game, mistakenly travelled to Fremantle. Duff acted as umpire in his place for the first half, until Orr returned from Fremantle Fremantle won their second straight game with a season high ten goals, Albert Thurgood scoring four goals in a best on ground display Round 8 Round 8 Saturday, 10 Jul 1897 Rov 4.5 A Imp 8.9 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3179200 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 12 July 1897 5 Saturday, 10 Jul 1897 Frm 7.12 D WP 7.6 Fremantle Oval 3,000 *Despite starting the game with only 14 men, Imperials comfortably accounted for Rovers, Wilson scoring four goals There was a very high attendance of 3,000 people present at the Fremantle v West Perth match Fremantle scored six goals in an impressive third quarter but ended up drawing with West Perth, Thurgood again scoring four goals Round 9 Round 9 Saturday, 17 Jul 1897 WP n/a Rov n/a WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3179662 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 19 July 1897 3 Saturday, 17 Jul 1897 Frm n/a Imp n/a Fremantle Oval *Neither of the games scheduled for 17 July was played on that date, with matches rescheduled for 4 September The game between Rovers and West Perth was postponed when rain left the Association Ground in an unfit state for play The game between Fremantle and Imperials was postponed due to the funeral of Mr. Walter Bell, prominent Fremantle citizen and ex-secretary of the Fremantle Football Clubhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3179563 DEATH OF MR. WALTER BELL. The West Australian Western Australia 17 July 1897 2 Round 10 Round 10 Saturday, 24 Jul 1897 Rov 5.3 A Frm 7.15 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3180157 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 26 July 1897 6 Saturday, 24 Jul 1897 Imp 7.11 A WP 8.5 Fremantle Oval *West Perth defeated Imperials by a single goal to take the lead in the premiership, with Kelly scoring four goals for the losing team Round 11 Round 11 Saturday, 31 Jul 1897 WP 8.6 H Frm 6.4 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3180726 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 2 August 1897 6 Saturday, 31 Jul 1897 Imp H Rov Fremantle Oval *Reports of the West Perth v Fremantle match record that a record crowd for the season witnessed an excellent game where “the brilliancy, the persistency, the coolness and the cleverness of the players surpassed all expectations”http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66529611 FOOTBALL. The Inquirer & Commercial News Western Australia 6 August 1897 6 Albert Thurgood kicked all six goals for Fremantle but ended up on the losing side The Inquirer and Commercial News gave the final score as 8.7 to 6.5 Rovers failed to field a team in Fremantle, Imperials being awarded the game on a walkover Round 12 Round 12 Saturday, 7 Aug 1897 Rov 2.8 A WP 10.13 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3181210 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 9 August 1897 6 Saturday, 7 Aug 1897 Frm 4.10 D Imp 4.4 Fremantle Oval *In what proved to be Rovers last appearance for the season, West Perth scored a season high 10 goals in an easy victory with Teddy Lockwood scoring three goals The umpire of the Rovers v West Perth game, C. M. Scott, fell ill during the game and had to be replaced at half-time by his namesake, H. J. Scott At Fremantle Oval, Fremantle had ten scoring shots (3.7) before Imperials registered their first score only to fall behind by four goals to three before equalising in the final term Round 13 Round 13 Saturday, 14 Aug 1897 WP 8.9 A Imp 5.10 WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3181637 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 16 August 1897 5 Saturday, 14 Aug 1897 Frm H Rov Fremantle Oval *West Perth scored five unanswered final quarter goals, coming from 2 goals behind at three-quarter time to win over Imperials with Coward scoring four goals Rovers failed to field a team, Fremantle being awarded the game on a walkover Round 14 Round 14 Saturday, 21 Aug 1897 WP H Rov WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3182113 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 23 August 1897 6 Saturday, 21 Aug 1897 Imp 8.5 H Frm 3.7 Fremantle Oval *Imperials moved clear in second position with a strong victory over a weakened Fremantle side for whom Thurgood scored two goals Rovers failed to field a team, West Perth being awarded the game on a walkover Round 15 Round 15 Saturday, 28 Aug 1897 Rov A Imp WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3182571 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 30 August 1897 6 Saturday, 28 Aug 1897 Frm 4.3 D WP 4.12 Fremantle Oval *The draw between Fremantle and West Perth controversially ended seven minutes early when the Fremantle timekeeper called time without agreement from the West Perth timekeeper. West Perth were dominating the game at the time. Thurgood (Fremantle) and De Coit (West Perth) both scored three goals and remained neck and neck in the goal scoring list for the season with 22 and 21 goals respectively Rovers failed to field a team, Imperials being awarded the game on a walkover Round 16 Round 16 Saturday, 4 Sep 1897 Rov A WP WACA http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3183070 FOOTBALL. The West Australian Western Australia 6 September 1897 6 Saturday, 4 Sep 1897 Frm 9.6 H Imp 4.4 Fremantle Oval 1,500 *This round was added during the season as a result of the postponement of both fixtures in round 9 (see above) A small attendance in Fremantle saw Fremantle win a match that had no bearing on the final table, Thurgood scoring five goals to finish as the leading goalscorer for the season. Rovers failed to field a team, West Perth being awarded the game on a walkover Ladder main WDL 1897 ladder Ladder true goals y 4 2 WP WP 8 0 5 70 46 P Imp Imp 7 5 2 60 57 Frm Frm 5 5 4 64 67 Rov Rov 1 11 1 30 54 Premiers #CCFFCC Q 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for. complete WAFL Footy Facts References 30em Category:West Australian Football League seasons WAFL